CallApp terminated in Korea over privacy breach

CallApp, a free mobile app for caller identification and call blocking services, developed by an Israel-based tech startup, has been banned in South Korea for illegally collecting and mishandling users’ private data.　The Korea Communications Commission said Monday that CallApp had been terminated from service in Korea. It asked Google Korea to take down the app from the Google Play app store from Friday, according to the commission.The KCC began investigating CallApp on allegations that it was i

Aug. 8, 2017

Samsung smartphones' presence in Japan expands in Q2

Samsung Electronics Co. saw its presence in the Japanese smartphone market reach a four-year high in the second quarter, data showed Tuesday, helped by robust sales of the flagship Galaxy S8.According to the data compiled by industry tracker Strategy Analytics, Samsung Electronics sold 700,000 units of smartphones in Japan over the April-June period, taking up 8.8 percent of the market to become the No. 3 player.The figure marks a sharp rise from 3.8 percent posted in the second quarter of 2016.

Aug. 8, 2017

Com2uS' overseas sales surpass W100b in Q2

Com2uS Corp., a South Korean online and mobile game publisher, said Tuesday its sales in the overseas market for the second quarter surpassed the 100 billion-won ($88.9 million) mark for the seventh quarter in a row.The homegrown gamemaker said its quarterly sales outside of South Korea came to 112.3 billion won during the April-June period, accounting for 87 percent of its total revenue. (Yonhap)The company said its operating profit inched up 0.7 percent on-year to 49 billion won during the sam

Aug. 8, 2017

Govt. to adopt pre-approval system for biocidal products from 2019

The government said Tuesday it will implement a prior approval system for biocidal products, such as disinfectants, starting in 2019, in a preventive measure after unscreened use of a deadly substance in a household humidifier disinfectant resulted in more than 70 deaths here.The Ministry of Environment announced the change in two separate legislations regarding the use of harmful chemical substances, which was approved at a Cabinet meeting.Under the amended rules, any biocides or biocidal produ

Aug. 8, 2017

[Herald Interview] Sony’s analog tech keeps it unbeatable

Sony Korea CEO Morimoto Osamu poses at Sony Korea’s office in Yeouido, western Seoul. Park Hyun-koo/The Korea HeraldMany Koreans wonder what has happened to Sony, which used be the global top TV provider in the 1990s. The Japanese electronics maker closed its TV business in Korea in 2013, squeezed out by Samsung and LG Electronics. However, Sony did not give up on the Korean market, focusing on camera and audio businesses that are still the world’s No. 1. Although digital technologies may be cha

Aug. 7, 2017

NCSoft posts weak Q2 earnings over ‘Lineage M’ marketing costs

South Korean game giant NCSoft posted a weak second-quarter performance on Monday, largely due to the cost of marketing its new mobile game “Lineage M” and shrinking sales of its online games.The firm’s operating profit shrank 56 percent on-year to 37.6 billion won ($33.34 million) while net profit dropped 66 percent on-year to 30.8 billion won during the April-June period, it said.At the same time, its second-quarter revenue rose 8 percent on-year to 258.6 billion won during the cited period, a

Aug. 7, 2017

Electronics firms to join govt. arms procurement deal for 1st time

The South Korean government has allowed electronics companies to join a weapons procurement project with a foreign contractor for the first time, enabling them to sell products in return for a contract, an industry source said Monday. Under an "offset" procurement program, a foreign contractor is obliged to undertake local investment or buy local products when they sign a weapons deal with the South Korean government. So far, local defense-related firms have mainly benefited from such arrangemen

Aug. 7, 2017

Global AR-VR market forecast to skyrocket over 4 years

The world's augmented and virtual reality market is expected to expand exponentially over the next four years with their annual growth rate more than doubling, an industry tracker said Monday.The global market for AR-VR products and services is expected to reach $215 billion by 2021, compared with $11.4 billion for 2017, according to the International Data Corp.The compound annual growth rate is projected to reach 113.2 percent, with the market expanding 18.9 times over the next four years. (123

Aug. 7, 2017

Samsung, LG to unveil their Europe sales strategies at IFA Berlin

South Korean tech titans are planning to unveil their exclusive strategies for the European market at an upcoming trade show in Berlin, Germany, next month. According to the electronics industry on Sunday, Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics are both preparing lineups of premium products that are equipped with future technologies, including Internet of Things and artificial intelligence, to attract European buyers at the Internationale Funkausstellung Berlin -- known as IFA -- scheduled to be

Aug. 6, 2017

[Video] A tattoo that is painless, removable and safe

For those who are not fans of permanent tattoos etched onto the skin, alternative options have long been limited to either body painting or slapping on a tacky tattoo sticker by rubbing it with water.　But now, a South Korean tech startup spun off from Samsung’s in-house venture program Creative Lab has developed a new portable printer that lets users instantly custom-print temporary tattoos using cosmetics-grade ink.The new gadget, named “Prinker,” allows users to design their own tattoos using

Aug. 6, 2017

Regular checkups raise chances of detecting liver cancer 2.5 times: report

Chances of detecting liver cancer are 2.5 times higher for those who have regular checkups than those who do not, a report showed Sunday.Those who have regular medical examinations are also 24 percent less likely to die from this type of cancer than those who do not, according to the report of the state-run National Evidence-based Healthcare Collaborating Agency, which analyzed statistics of the state-sponsored checkups of liver cancer done by the National Health Insurance Service since 2003.Liv

Aug. 6, 2017

Korean firms to benefit from iPhone 8 smartphone release: sources

South Korean electronics companies are to benefit from the launch of Apple Inc.'s next flagship iPhone 8 smartphones expected to be launched later this year as they are providers of major electronic parts, industry sources said Sunday.Apple is forecast to release new iPhone models equipped with flexible organic light-emitting panels, augmented reality, a nearly bezel-free design and other state-of-the-art gadgets to mark the 10th anniversary of the launch of the iconic mobile device. (Yonhap)"Sa

Aug. 6, 2017

Major Korean IT firms' operating profit set to rise 200% in Q3

South Korea's top seven tech giants are expected to see their operating profit rise 200 percent on-year in the third quarter, a report showed Sunday, maintaining solid growth throughout 2017.KB Securities Co. said Samsung Electronics Co., SK hynix Inc., Samsung SDI Co., LG Electronics Inc., LG Display Co., Samsung Electro-Mechanics Co., and LG Innotek Co., are set to post a combined operating profit of 19.4 trillion won ($17.2 billion) in the July-September period.For the second half of 2017, th

Aug. 6, 2017

Korea approves 1st homegrown surgical robot system

South Korea has approved its first locally developed surgical robot, marking a step forward for Korea’s medical robotics technology and its ecosystem.　The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety on Thursday approved Revo-i, a surgical robot system designed to carry out endoscopic surgical procedures including cholecystectomy and prostatectomy. It was developed by local tech firm Meere Company. In an operating room, the device, equipped with four robotic arms, is positioned directly over a patient. The

Aug. 4, 2017

Korean scientists contribute to first gene repair of human embryos

South Korean scientists from the Daejeon-based Institute for Basic Science have contributed to safely repairing a disease-causing mutation in human embryos via gene-editing technology, marking a major step toward a viable method to prevent inherited diseases.　They co-authored a study published Thursday in the scientific journal Nature, showing that a mutation linked with a deadly, hereditary heart disease can be corrected in early stage embryos using the CRISPR-Cas9 “gene editing” tool.The findi

Aug. 3, 2017

[Exclusive] China’s Huawei to supply key network equipment for Seoul Metro

China’s biggest network equipment manufacturer Huawei will supply core equipment for the telecommunications systems of Seoul’s major underground railways, sources said Thursday. Hyundai Information Technology, a Korean provider of Huawei-made network equipment, won a bid to supply the telecommunications equipment with a bid price of 6.97 billion won ($6.19 million). The bid was opened by Seoul Metro through the Korea ON-Line E-Procurement System and closed on July 20.  (Yonhap)Korea’s major mobi

Aug. 3, 2017

Korea's Jecheon to host intl. expo on Korean medicine, biotech industry in Sept.

 JECHEON  -- The city of Jecheon, central South Korea, will play host to an international exhibition focused on the Korean medicine and biotech industry in September in a bid to develop the Korean herbal medicine-based biotech industry into a future growth engine, organizers said Thursday. This image, released by the organizing committee of the 2017 World Korean Medicine-Bio Industry Expo on Aug. 3, 2017, shows a structure of the Sept. 22-Oct. 10 fair that the Jecheon municipality will play host

Aug. 3, 2017

Korea's mobile shopping up 35.5% in June

Purchases made through mobile devices rose 35.5 percent in June from a year earlier, government data showed Wednesday, as a growing number of South Koreans utilize smartphones to buy things ranging from clothes to electronic goods.South Korea is one of the most wired countries in the world with one of the highest smartphone penetration rates. Eight out of 10 South Koreans use a smartphone, according to government data. (Yonhap)Mobile transactions through smartphones and tablets reached 3.75 tril

Aug. 2, 2017

Samsung stands as world's top smartphone maker in Q2

Samsung Electronics Co. stood as the leading smartphone maker in terms of shipments in the second quarter of 2017, data showed Wednesday, with Chinese firms narrowing the gap with the traditional leaders.According to the data compiled by Strategy Analytics, the South Korean giant accounted for 22.1 percent of the global market in the April-June period, down 0.6 percentage point from a year earlier. This translates into 79.5 million units made by Samsung.The industry tracker said Samsung was able

Aug. 2, 2017

Kakao Games debuts mobile RPG ‘Onmyoji’ in Korea

“Onmyoji,” the hit 3-D mobile role-playing game that swept the Chinese and Japanese markets last year, has officially arrived in South Korea via Kakao’s game publishing unit Kakao Games.Kakao Games on Tuesday launched “Onmyoji for Kakao,” the localized version of the hit Chinese mobile RPG, via the Google Play store and Apple App Store in Korea.Developed by Chinese game developer NetEase, “Onmyoji” is a turn-based mobile RPG that has racked up more than 2 million downloads worldwide. It is the m

Aug. 1, 2017